It is credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form, breaking down racial barriers in popular entertainment and popularizing the making-of documentary format. It doubled sales of Thriller, helping it become the best-selling album in history, and sold over a million copies on VHS, becoming the best-selling videotape at the time. Michael Jackson's Thriller was launched to great anticipation and played regularly on MTV. A making-of documentary, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, was produced to sell to television networks. It was filmed at various locations in Los Angeles, including the Palace Theater. The pair conceived a short film with a budget much larger than previous music videos. Jackson hired Landis after seeing his 1981 film An American Werewolf in London. In July 1983, after Thriller was displaced from the top of the chart, Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo suggested making a music video for "Thriller". Jackson's sixth album, Thriller, was released in November 1982 and spent months at the top of the Billboard 200, backed by successful videos for the singles " Billie Jean" and " Beat It". It references numerous horror films and sees Jackson dancing with a horde of zombies. The video was directed by John Landis, written by Landis and Jackson, and stars Jackson and Ola Ray. Michael Jackson's Thriller is a 1983 music video for the song " Thriller" by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on 2 December 1983.